Hey All, I'm pretty new to the forums, but I thought I would make a post up in here to share my weight loss plans.

I'm based-in Australia so I apologies to all of you who still use imperial numbers XD.

My best fired worked at a pharmacy, and she was overweight. When she started to work there, her colleagues suggested that she would give the diet ago. All of the women in there had done the diet and had fantastic results. Initially she and I were a bit skeptical as the diet involves essentially fasting for 6 weeks. My friend is also vegetarian so after the diets strict food choices, there wasn't really a lot left for her to eat. But sh the she was determined and stuck with it, and now, well if I didn't what her go through, pretty sure I wouldn't be able to recognize her.

So now I'm doing the diet. I am 171 cms tall and when I started the diet I weighed 112.5 Kilos. After 5 days on the diet I now weigh 108. That would be a loss of 4kg, or 8.8 pounds for you Americans. I'm feeling fine while taking the HCG and haven't experienced any negative side effects while on it. The only thing I would say that's its strange having an empty stomach and not really feeling like I need to eat. Instead I just drink water.

Sometimes I do get cravings for crabs, but I haven't cheated. The diet does not allow you to have oil, fat, sugar, crabs or starches. I miss bread a lot! But I'm going to stick with it and see how things go. I should probably also point out I'm using the drops and not the injections.

Wasn't sure what the HCG diet was so I did a quick google search. I skimmed through the first few sites and they mentioned the diet was dangerous. The lifestyle that I follow is deemed dangerous by the norm but I don't believe it to be. It depends on the research you've done and if the results you find were done scientifically without any bias.

My lifestyle consists of cutting out most carbs, i.e., sweets, pastries, potatoes, rice, noodles, and etc. However, I eat as much fatty/lean meats, butter, olive oil, coconut oil and (non-starchy) vegetables as I want without any qualms. I feel great and have had no problem with my weight since. My peak weight was about 240lbs in high school, now I'm 185lbs given that I am about 5'11ft (180cm).

You may want to get some tests done to see if you're doing fine. One can be normal weight and still be unhealthy.

Once again, it depends on the research. Try to be critical and judge if the conclusions of articles were not skewed.

Sorry I don't have personal experience with HCG to give more insight but I hope this post helps.

"There is no scientific evidence that HCG is effective in the treatment of obesity. The meta-analysis found insufficient evidence supporting the claims that HCG is effective in altering fat-distribution, hunger reduction or in inducing a feeling of well-being. The authors stated “…the use of HCG should be regarded as an inappropriate therapy for weight reduction…” In the authors opinion, “Pharmacists and physicians should be alert on the use of HCG for Simeons therapy. The results of this meta-analysis support a firm standpoint against this improper indication. Restraints on physicians practicing this therapy can be based on our findings.”

I should have mentioned, I am doing it under medical supervision, and not just "off the shelf" so to speak. I know that some articles do say that the hcg does actually suppresse your hunger and other related things, but I can only speak from my own experience and say whole heatedly, that it does for me.

I knew someone personally who did this, but she was a couple hundred pounds overweight... I really wouldn't suggest it to anyone. That being said, if you go by the diet and tweak it, the results are often very good. Since the diet doesn't allow for starches or sugars the body is unable to produce fat, which is good if you want to lose weight quickly, however eating only 500 calories a day is not. What I did (and this helped me a lot during my initial weight loss of 52 lbs) was go with the high protein/vegetable content and fruit whenever I wanted, and I always ate whenever I was hungry, until I was full. Along with exercise, the weight falls off. You don't have to deprive yourself too much though; a piece of chocolate or something here and there never hurts, and I've found that during a diet such as this, it actually helped me lose weight. I didn't add starches back to my diet until just recently and I still have to keep an eye on the amount I eat.